Right-to-know about industrial polluters remains intact – for now

A federal “right-to-know” program that informs the public about pollution released by industries would remain intact under an amendment approved Thursday evening by the U.S. House.

The Bush administration had been exploring a weakening of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxics Release Inventory. Changes included requiring less frequent reporting of the releases and raising the amount of pollution released before a business had to own up to the emissions.